Asher's Birth Story | Baptist Hospital Pensacola, FL

If you’re tuned into Pensacola’s birth community at all, you’ll know that one of our beloved local OB/GYNs, Dr. Calhoun, lost her 2-year-old son in a tragic accident last year. That isn’t my story to tell though… If I even could, because I’m sitting here in tears trying to think of anything at all to write in this blog post.

I know I can’t even fathom the heartache of losing a child, or how bittersweet starting to get past that loss must be. But life has a way of forcing us to keep moving forward. Asher’s birth was so full of emotion and little pieces of Jayme were everywhere (the room he was born in, the people who delivered him, his handprints tattooed on dad’s arms…).

We were all crying as we supported Casey and Royce through a birth that was long and difficult, both physically and mentally… But also finding moments of joy and laughter in a room full of good friends and colleagues as we prepared to welcome Asher into the world.

Casey didn’t get the birth experience she wanted and Asher needed some extra TLC from the nursery, but all is ultimately well. Everyone at Baptist bent over backwards to try and make up for the punches we had to roll with. They worked hard to avoid shipping Asher over to Sacred Heart’s NICU and to make sure Casey was able to go to the nursery and hold her within a couple of hours after surgery. I’m always so glad to see when the emotional needs of the patients are as much of a priority as the physical well-being.

Hit play to watch this story unfold.

Casey told me that she believes Jayme (and Jesus) sent baby Asher from heaven just in time to be a sweet gift of joy and healing his family approached one year of existing without him. Indeed, God has a way of sending us just what we need, and just when we need it most.